


The Real Reason Pidge Learned Altean Is....

by HungryLibrary



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/F, First posted to Tumblr, Fluff, and wants to see allura smile, she learns altean bc she's gaaaaay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-16 00:40:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12332040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HungryLibrary/pseuds/HungryLibrary
Summary: Pidge learns Altean because the Castle’s systems are written in it. She learns Altean because she can’t stand much more of Coran’s crazy nonsense words, which she’s sure he’s deliberately inflicting on them by now. She learns Altean because its a freaking alien language and the drive to absorb new things is coded into her DNA.She also learns Altean for just this one moment.For the way Allura’s eyes widen. For the flash of excitement that lights up her face. For her response, sounds and syllables flowing just a bit smoother than Pidge’s ever will, and the almost breathless way she says them.





	The Real Reason Pidge Learned Altean Is....

 

“I didn’t realize you would be fluent so soon!”

Allura reminded herself not to speak too quickly or let the words blur together, but it was hard to restrain herself with delight bubbling up in her chest, pushing the words out faster.

“How have you found the time to study Altean? I assumed you would only focus on the written form, since the Castle has very few spoken commands and the universal translator takes care of the language barrier between us. How does it compare to your Earth languages? Did you have trouble with it? You could have asked me for help, you know, I would have been happy to give you pointers.”

She had to pause to draw breath.

Pidge took the moment to break in, looking a little overwhelmed by the flood of Altean but still very pleased with herself.

“Okay hold on, let me see if I heard all that right.”

Clasping her hands behind her back Pidge bowed her head and frowned thoughtfully.

“Written, spoken… Ohhh.” Comprehension dawned as she puzzled the pieces together. “Well I thought speaking Altean and getting to practice it with you and Coran would help keep the written part sharp too. It’s not too different from some Earth languages, though the pronunciation a bit tricky sometimes. I’m still working on that, obviously.”

“You sound quite good to me.” Allura marveled. “There’s a faint accent of course, but its actually rather-”

Fascinating, charming, intriguing, strange in how it made Allura’s skin prickle and her mouth go a bit dry.

“-pleasant.” She said, hoping Pidge wouldn’t notice her slight stumble.

“But why did you keep this a secret until now? It can’t have been easy learning it alone and from the Castle language program, I remember it as being rather unforgiving.”

To that Pidge only shrugged, eyes falling to the floor as she scratched as the back of her neck.

“I wanted it to be a surprise I guess.” She muttered. “A good one, I mean. For a change.”

Allura beamed at her.

It had been a surprise. Watching Pidge walk into the rest area and hearing the Castle give one of it’s rare verbal announcements- Local deactivation of universal translator now in effect- had shocked Allura enough that she hadn’t understood what was happening until Pidge took a deep breath and started chatting to her with feigned casualness.

Chated to her in Altean, form perfect and words lilting exotically as they left her tongue.

It had been a good surprise. The kind that made Allura’s eyes sting and lifted a weight from her chest that she had grown so used to she’d forgotten it was there until it was gone.

“Then you succeeded perfectly.”

She said warmly and was rewarded by a pink flush that quickly spread across the Paladin’s face as she grinned shyly up at Allura.

-

_It’s worth nearly getting mauled by the language program to see Allura like this._

_And it’s important, Pidge knows, that Allura can now use Altean words to describe everything that Altea used to be._

_It’s also important that she has someone to talk with other than Coran._

_Someone who doesn’t know so many things but wants to hear about them all, someone who gives her an excuse to brush the gathering dust off her memories and remember stuff she’d been at the edge of forgetting._

-

“The lemzakram?”

“Yeah.” Pidge nodded, fingers a blur as she did a little light work while three of the Castle mice watched curiously from her shoulders and the top of her head.

“I found a mention of it in the archives, but the descriptive entry didn’t make much sense.” She frowned and glanced over at Allura. “Something about the mid-summer festival and… the first light of the stars? A heart bleeding ashes?”

Sighing Pidge rubbed at the bridge of her nose.

“What am I missing? Is this a language or a cultural thing?”

“Both, I suppose.”

Scrunching her brows together Allura pushed some food good around her plate and offered it the waiting Platt, wracking her brain for the answer she knew was hiding there.

“The Lemzakram is a ritual with it’s roots in the unification of Altea. To properly explain it, and the style used to describe it, I would first need to give you some background in it’s original meaning.”

A soft snap sounded through the kitchen as Pidge closed her laptop and shoved it aside.

“Do you mind telling me? It’s been bugging me all day.”

“I’ll do my best.” Allura promised.

“Just let me think for a moment, I haven’t really thought about any of this since I was ten. Hmm….”

-

_Just like its important that the person listening understood._

_Someone who won’t get board when Allura talks about the smallest details for hours on end, because they know what’s like to miss something or someone and to savor every little piece you have left._

-

“- never really appealed to me, though.” Allura admitted wryly.

“The older sections had much better places to hide in, and as a child I made good use of them by ambushing Coran whenever he came to fetch me for lessons. One time I even set up a little trap that-”

A soft chime broke in, announcing the completion of a scan on the Castle’s systems.

Allura blinked and looked around in surprise, suddenly realizing it had been nearly a varga since Pidge had come to the bridge with a simple question about the set up of Altean cities.

Feeling a bit embarrassed she turned back to Pidge, smiling dimming as she apologized.

“I’m sorry, I wandered off again- what exactly was it you wanted to know?”

Pidge just grinned at her.

“No idea.” She said cheerfully, her Altean still accented in a way that Allura knew she will never get tired of listening to. “Go on about the Castle gardens and playing in them as a kid, I wanna hear about you pranking Coran.”

Allura laughed. “But that’s not at all what you asked me about!”

“Yeah.” Pidge agreed as she scooted closer on the dais, leaning in eagerly. “But this is way better anyway.”

“Well…”

Allura glanced at the display showing the results of the Castle scan.

It was nothing pressingly important, just a routine check to make sure everything is running smoothly, and it’s so rare these days to have a moment free to chat with anyone- let along Pidge, who always has something to de-bug or reprogram- and Allura decided that getting to sit here with her a little while longer was more than worth a little bit of catch up work later.

So she gave in. “If you’re sure.”

“Please, Allura.” Pidge’s eyes turned pleading behind her glasses. “The suspense is  _killing_  me.”

How could she say no to a face like that? Allura felt her smile return full force as she went about picking up her thread of thought.

“Very well then. Now, where was I?”

“The trap?”

“The trap, yes.” Allura tried and failed to suppress another giggle.

“Poor Coran, it took nearly ten spicolian movements for his mustache to fully recover, and it was such a state even father couldn’t keep a straight face while he was scolding me…”

-

_Ironically Pidge does a lot less talking after she learns to speak Altean than before she did._

_She doesn’t mind at all._

_The truth is, this is the real reason she learned it in the first place._

_To hear the things that needed to be heard, to give Allura a reason to say them. To help keep alive little pieces of Allura’s home and former life._

_And._

_To see the princess smile in a way she’s never seen from her before._


End file.
